


Storm Surge

by corruptedkid



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Apocalypse, M/M, Natural Disasters, Podfic Welcome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-16
Updated: 2017-10-16
Packaged: 2019-01-18 01:10:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12377793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corruptedkid/pseuds/corruptedkid
Summary: “I never thought this would actually happen,” Frank says, so quietly Gerard almost misses it.





	Storm Surge

**Author's Note:**

> it was raining really hard. i got inspired. this happened.

Gerard can hear the storm through the walls.

It came on quickly, just like always. All it took was a shout from Mikey, and then they were all running for the windows, the doors, double and triple checking every lock. Ray and Frank are still in the process of bringing the cans up from the basement. It’s always hard to know where to put the food - the basement’s a flooding hazard, but they can’t trust anywhere else to be safe, either. The last time they kept it upstairs, the wind had knocked down a wall over it. A week’s worth of supplies, lost to the rubble.

They’d abandoned that shelter not long after. 

This one’s a little better. Not too many windows; strong foundation. Gerard’s not sure what it used to be, before. The wind has long since ripped away any identifying features of the building, and the inside is pretty empty, too - someone’s obviously taken shelter here before them, and stripped the place bare while they were at it.

But the building’s past isn’t important. For now, it’s keeping them safe, and that’s all that matters. 

Mikey’s leaning his head against the window, staring out into the downpour. The rain is beating down on the glass, thunder rumbling every few seconds, like drums in the distance. He touches his fingertips to the glass. For a moment, Gerard thinks he’s going to unlock the window, and he opens his mouth to give a warning, but then Mikey’s hand drops, and he closes it again.

Mikey’s always been fascinated by the storms. Gerard doesn’t know if it’s a thrill-seeking sort of thing or a natural curiosity. All he knows is that Mikey attaches himself to the window whenever the rain comes through, watching it like he’s hypnotized; drinking in the destruction. He’d be out there if he had the chance, standing silent as the water soaked him to the bone.

Gerard shivers. He can almost see the appeal in it - surrendering yourself to the forces of nature, standing in the eye of the storm as it seethes all around you.

But he’d never actually go outside when it’s like this. He’s not that crazy.

“Get away from the window,” he says. 

Mikey doesn’t listen. He never does. Gerard would repeat himself, but the wind speeds haven’t clocked high enough to cause any real damage. Mikey’ll be fine.

You never know, though.

Ray’s footsteps thump on the stairs, and he appears in the doorway with an armload of cans. “You guys gonna help?” he asks pointedly. “Or are you just gonna sit there?”

Mikey keeps watching the rain. Gerard keeps watching Mikey.

Frank comes up behind Ray and dumps a few stray packages on the floor. “That’s the last of it,” he says, wiping his forehead. “I don’t think we need to worry, though. This basement looks a lot more secure than the last one.”

“Okay. I’ll get the radio,” Ray says, and he smiles before making his way to one of the back rooms. Gerard doesn’t know how he can still smile like that, like it’s effortless. His optimism is a gift. 

It can’t be sincere. Not entirely. But Ray does a damn good job faking it.

Frank leans back against the wall, then slides down to sit beside Gerard. “Hi,” he says. His eyes are on the window. “This sure is somethin’, huh?”

“We’ve seen worse,” Gerard replies. Frank leans his head against Gerard’s shoulder. His hair is still damp from when he’d been outside earlier. 

“You think it’s gonna flood?” he asks, his voice slightly muffled.

“The basement, or in general?” Gerard asks.

“In general.”

Gerard shrugs. “Murphy’s law.”

Frank doesn’t respond. Gerard wraps one arm around his waist, and the storm rages on. 

“I never thought this would actually happen,” Frank says, so quietly Gerard almost misses it. 

“I don’t think any of us did,” he says.

“I know. It’s, like… impersonal. As long as it’s on the other side of the world, who gives a fuck, right?” This is where he would’ve laughed, once. Now he’s just quiet. “But then everything goes to shit, and you wonder why you didn’t do anything sooner.”

Gerard knows exactly what he means. He still remembers the first storm; he doesn’t think he can ever forget.

It had swept in quicker than he could blink. Jersey wasn’t exactly on hurricane alley, but they were bound to get hit sooner or later. Hurricanes. Floods. Earthquakes. 

It started with rain. 

Mikey had stood out in the front yard, hair plastered to his forehead, his outline almost blurry with the water pouring down around him. Gerard had yelled at him to get inside. He’d turned around, almost smiling, but didn’t move.

Gerard calls him crazy, but sometimes he wonders if it’s true.

The city was a mess afterwards. The water level hadn’t risen too high, but it had sure as fuck risen. Gerard had waded out into the street to deliver a pack of water to their neighbors, and it had felt like he was walking through a bad dream. His entire neighborhood had been reshaped by the water, with cars sitting half-submerged, and unnamed objects floating through the wreckage. He can still feel the floodwater around his ankles. It’s cold and wet and filthy; he doesn’t think the feeling will ever go away.

The obvious choice was evacuation. There was nowhere to go, but that didn’t matter. Staying on the coastline was suicide.

Gerard’s not sure where they are now. His phone died a long time ago, and most street signs have been destroyed. He can only hope they’re far enough inland that the incoming storms won’t be too bad. They’ve been getting weaker the further they travel, but maybe that’s just luck. Maybe there’s something worse coming.

There’s always something worse coming.

A flash of lightning lights up the room. It reflects off Mikey’s glasses, a split-second gleam of bright white.

“I thought it’d be aliens,” Frank says abruptly.

Gerard combs his fingers through Frank’s hair. It’s gotten longer; the sides are scruffy, and his roots are showing beneath the bleach. “I was betting on the sun exploding,” he says.

“Mm-hmm. So much more exciting.”

The ghost of a smile flits across Gerard’s lips. As if anything could be more exciting than this. It’s not the first word he’d use, but it’s close - he’s never felt smaller than he did when the first storm came through. It ripped everything apart. In a few short hours, everything he’d ever known was gone. Destroyed in the blink of an eye. 

Nothing could be more exciting than mother nature herself, out for blood.

“Mikey, get away from the window,” Frank says. Mikey doesn’t respond, and he scowls. “It’s dangerous, fuckhead. You know that.”

“It’s interesting,” Mikey responds, not looking at Frank.

“He’s fine, Frank,” Gerard says quietly. “The wind’s not strong enough to break anything.”

“Yet,” Frank says darkly. Gerard squeezes his shoulder.

Frank gets pissed off easily. He’s acutely aware of the unfairness of it all; the lives that have been stolen away from them. He knows that they have no plan. They’re jumping from one iceberg to the next, but there aren’t a whole lot of icebergs left in the world. They all melted. Soon enough, they’ll have nowhere to run, and it drives him nuts. When their last shelter was destroyed, he’d sat down in front of the wreckage, buried his face in his hands, and laughed until he cried. 

That, Gerard thinks, had been worse than losing the food. 

He goes back to running his fingers through Frank’s hair. It’s soothing for the both of them. Frank doesn’t say another word, so Gerard figures he won’t start on Mikey. Not today. 

Ray comes back into the room carrying their radio. It’s clunky, with a big antenna sticking out of the top and terrible reception. It won’t give them anything but static until the storm passes. But once it does, maybe they’ll be able to find someone else out there. They’ve found people before - a group of terrified teenage girls hiding out in an abandoned supermarket, a middle-aged couple canoeing through the floodwaters, two brothers stranded in their attic. 

They’re all desperate for human contact, but no one can help that flash of disappointment when they first meet. They want a savior, not someone who’s as helpless as they are. 

Gerard tried staying with groups for a while, but it never worked out. Everybody has different priorities; people they prize above all else. For Gerard, it’s Mikey, Frank, and Ray. He can’t bring himself to care about anyone else as much as he cares for them.

Ray sits down by Mikey, the radio in his lap. 

Thunder booms in the distance. 

“This sucks,” Frank mutters. Gerard presses a kiss to the top of his head. There’s not much he can do - it’s not like they can change the situation. It’s not like they can claim everything will be okay. Gerard thinks that’s why Frank gets so frustrated. If you can’t even hope for things to get better, what do you have left?

Family, Gerard thinks. That’s what you have. 

Frank lifts his head, and he kisses Gerard softly, the barest press of his lips against Gerard’s. It’s gentle, and Gerard’s glad of it. He can never turn Frank down when he gets aggressive, but moments like this anchor them together. As long as they can still be gentle with each other at the end of the day, they’re okay. They’re holding on.

Sometimes the fight is against nature. Sometimes it’s inside their own heads. But even when they lose, they get up to fight again. That’s how Gerard knows they’re going to make it.

Frank fixates. Gerard soothes. Mikey watches. Ray tries.

And somehow, they’ll make it through another night.


End file.
